New 'Useful Link'....'Agenda', the Alliance for women and girls at risk.

24 hours at a Suicide Crisis Centre (Cheltenham):  The Independent...

This article, published in “The Independent”, explains how we respond to emergencies during a 24 hour period at our Suicide Crisis Centre, at a time when a heatwave brings increased numbers of clients, and the closure of our local A&E and staff shortages within mental health services create an even greater need for our services:- This is what 24 hours in a Suicide Crisis Centre looks like:-

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/suicide-crisis-centre-mental-health-prevention-nhs-iapt-a8446011.html

UK specialist perinatal mental heath community teams. Updated maps from the Maternal Mental Health Alliance, show that 24% of pregnant and new mums in the UK have no access to specialist perinatal mental health services.

Suicide Crisis News: Joanna, a former client, shares her recovery journey.  Joanna, one of our former clients, gave an outstanding talk about her inpatient experiences at a mental health nursing conference in West London in March. In the write-up afterwards on the NHS Trust website it referred to the talk by Jo and her fellow patient as “the most powerful part of the event” and paid tribute to their “courage in letting professionals in on their personal journeys so that they may learn from it”.

Jo has also created an inspiring online blog “Journey from the borderline: EUPD recovery” which she describes as a blog about “the events, trials and tribulations and hopefully the odd success during my period of recovery”. You can access Jo’s blog here: http://eupdrecoveryjourney.simplesite.com/

The staying safe website which is apparently useful for supporting people with thoughts of suicide to write a safety plan https://stayingsafe.net/
STAY ALIVE Suicide Prevention mobile phone app.....This app is a pocket suicide prevention resource for the UK, packed full of useful information and tools to help you stay safe in crisis. You can use it if you are having thoughts of suicide or if you are concerned about someone else who may be considering suicide.....read more HERE...and how to download the app.
Message from MIND. Where you live is such an important part of your life, and can have a huge impact on your mental health. Whether you have a mental health problem or not, we’d love to hear about your housing experiences. Everything we do is based on the real experiences of people and their relationship with their mental health. Tell us your story and we’ll make sure we feed it in to our work. And if you’re currently having problems with your housing, our website has information, and a list of places you can go to for support.
Ilford M&S to help build pop up hostel for local rough sleepers..read HERE 

NHS slashes funds for top homeless mental health team - here

Forward thinking: NIHR research on support for people with severe mental illness - here

 

Why have we become involved?

The Forum looked to open conversations with the 2gether Trust and to look to engage with 2gether to talk about individuals and be their voice such as through the use of Life Story's and advocacy.

This followed increasing concerns and frustrations with the number of individuals we were seeing on and off the street with obvious mental health problems, service breakdowns, etc., (see July 2014 Minutes). We subsequently had really useful meetings with Shaun Clee, CEO 2gether NHS Trust, NHS Glos CCG, etc., We were concerned to learn that hisytorically, there had been a reluctance to diagnose personallity disorders but pleased with a new focus on community engagement. This has been very helpful and productive with really positive conversations.

We have been invited onto two working groups as follows:-

A) Mental Health & Wellbeing Strategy: Sub Group Stigma and Discrimination. Chair Jane Melton, Director of Engagement & Integration, 2getherNHSTrust.

B) MH&WB Strategy: Gloucestershire Suicide Prevention Partnership. Chair Jennifer Taylor, Lead Commisioner Public Health, GCC.

and were pleased when 2gether gave a presentation and a 'tea and talk' session with photo opportunity's to the Forum.

The Forum continues to take this forward and we are priveledged to have the Lead Commissioner Mental Health NHS Glos CCG and Community Services Manager 2gether NHS Trust as Lead Partners who report and update at our quarterley meetings. 

 

2gether NHS Foundation Trust - Making Life better. 'We provide specialist mental health and learning disability services to the people of Gloucestershire and Herefordshire. We’re an innovative and forward-thinking organisation, with a real commitment to providing a high quality service. We were also the first trust in the country to be awarded an ‘outstanding’ rating for acute inpatient services, crisis services and psychiatric intensive care services'. 'Select a condition' facility, Help in a Crisis, Read about the new Gloucester Hub, etc.... List of Teams scheduled for Pullman Place latter this year.

'An excellent high quality web site'...the Forum.

 

Second Step Mental Health Charity, Bristol...PuttingMeFirst campaign films....click HERE. Second Step's campaign to put the person at the centre of their mental health story and not their diagnosis.

 

Suicide is the biggest killer of men under the age of 45 years. (April 2017). CALM charity. Campaign Against Living Miserably.

Why are men more likeley than women to take their own lives? read article here

Mental Health Foundation 

NHS Veterans Mental Health Service. Do you need help? If you are a member of the armed forces approaching discharge or a veteran and you are experiencing mental health difficulties, please use the information below to get in contact with your local service.
South Central and South West England (Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Bristol, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly) Service contact: David Wilcox (Gloucestershire, Bristol, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly) Email: awp.swveterans@nhs.net  Phone: 0300 365 0300.

You may have read about the very worrying concerns of MIND that the £800m mental health funding announced by the government will now be used to cover NHS debt..... HSJ 'Exclusive: Full £800m NHS 'priorities' fund to offset trust deficits, it has been confirmed'. So MIND were right to be concerned. It seems that the Forum can subscribe to HSJ 'For Healthcare Leaders' as a guest to receive limited access to HSJ's award winning content, all for free...Includes up-to-date news, healthcare articles..etc...Should we as a Forum subscribe to HSJ as a 'guest'? comments please. If you look into the 'Mental Health in STP'...  the Royal College of Psychiatrists interactive map, HSJ reveals:- 1. That four sustainability and transformation plan (STP) regions have failed to raise mental health spending as mandated by national leaders. 2. The best STP is investing 14.89% more in mental health as a proportion of the increase in its total budget, while the worst is investing 1.55% less. 3. Gloucestershire description. Good news. Percentage change in mental health planned spend from 15/16, to this year 16/17... is investing 11.44% more in mental health as a proportion of the increase in its total budget.  Commissioners are serious and ambitious about improving mental health services and achieving parity of esteem but are working in an incredibly financially challenged climate and deserve our full support. 

 

On Call With The Charity Suicide Crisis: BBC TV News Follows The Team As They Go Out To Clients At Risk In Gloucestershire.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38152562.

Watch the film from Dr Simon Braybrook, GP

My particular illness is depressive, chronic dysthymia with episodic major depression - to be exact. I’ve received a lot of psychological therapy and have made the decision to stay on medication for life. I am happy for my patients to know this, but I do stress that everyone’s experience of mental health problems is unique.

Having a mental illness can be a challenge in a job like mine but staying mentally healthy is vital. I do this by having different ways to unwind, maintaining healthy relationships, and taking opportunities to learn new skills and enjoy the present moment.

It’s also important to be kind to yourself when things go wrong. Self-acceptance is about recognising that we do lots of things well, but we don’t get it right all the time. We have to pick ourselves up and learn from it.

I don’t regret my mental illness. It has made me more aware of mental health, both my own and others. Not all of us will get mentally ill, but we all have mental health and I enjoy helping people to look after theirs.

I hope that by talking about mental health, as I've done in this film, that other people will be encouraged to ask for help when they need to.

 

People with mental health and drug and/or alcohol needs are still being neglected.

That’s the conclusion of a recent (3 August 2016) report from Turning Point entitled: Dual Dilemma: the impact of living with mental health issues combined with drug and alcohol misuse.

Citizen Article posted 11th January 2017 - 'People share powerful stories...'

 

Five Year Forward View for Mental Health

Gloucestershire Mental Health & Wellbeing Strategy.